Start RJ Harvey or Rico Dowdle? Week 8

Updated Oct 27, 2:26 PM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 9 answer posts Tuesday.

Latest

Oct 21, 5:43 PM ET: Rico Dowdle: Listed Questionable (Knee) (Sleeper injury feed)

Dowdle projects lower, 6.9 to 9.7, and still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player: ADP 76 for Dowdle, 100 for Harvey.

Start

Rico Dowdle

RB · PIT · vs CLE

Market projects: 6.9; recent weeks avg
CLE D vs RB: 19.4; 8th fewest to RBs (2026)
Upside: Moderate; 60 of 100 at RB
Snap share: 38%; Through Week 7
Target share: 12%; Through Week 7

Sit

RJ Harvey

RB · DEN · vs KC

Market projects: 9.7; recent weeks avg
KC D vs RB: 19.5; 9th fewest to RBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 15 of 100 at RB
Snap share: 39%; Through Week 7
Target share: 17%; Through Week 7

Should I drop Rico Dowdle for RJ Harvey?

Yes, on the rest of the season. RJ Harvey projects 85 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (9.4 a game over 9 games), Rico Dowdle 32 (3.6 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Rico Dowdle over RJ Harvey. So make the move after his Week 8 game.

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Our Week 8 call

Start Rico Dowdle over RJ Harvey in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Rico Dowdle at 6.9 points and RJ Harvey at 9.7, a gap of 2.9. Rico Dowdle still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player, ADP 76 against 100, and that outweighs a gap this size. No player market is posted for Rico Dowdle this week yet, so his 6.9 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (8.4, 5.6 and 6.7); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for RJ Harvey this week yet, so his 9.7 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (10.9, 8.7 and 9.6); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for RJ Harvey yet. His market-based projections were 10.9, 8.7 and 9.6 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 9.7, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

No Week 8 player market is posted for Rico Dowdle yet. His market-based projections were 8.4, 5.6 and 6.7 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 6.9, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts RJ Harvey 2.9 points ahead of Rico Dowdle on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

RJ Harvey and DEN host KC on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

KC allowed 19.5 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 6 games, the 9th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 72 yards and 0.7 touchdowns a game against KC and caught passes for 37 more yards.

Rico Dowdle and PIT host CLE on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CLE allowed 19.4 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 7 games, the 8th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 104 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against CLE and caught passes for 20 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, RJ Harvey has the softer matchup.

Injury status

RJ Harvey is not on the injury report.

Rico Dowdle is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, RJ Harvey played 39 percent of DEN snaps, took 17 percent of the carries, drew 17 percent of the targets and had 14 percent of the red zone chances.

RJ Harvey, Week 4 against SF: 29 of 65 snaps, 7 carries for 25 yards, 10 targets and 10 catches for 68 yards.

RJ Harvey, Week 5 against LAC: 23 of 62 snaps, 3 carries for 7 yards, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

RJ Harvey, Week 6 against SEA: 24 of 60 snaps, 6 carries for 25 yards, 4 targets and 3 catches for 31 yards, 1 touchdown.

RJ Harvey, Week 7 against ARI: 16 of 61 snaps, 3 carries for 6 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 54 yards, 1 touchdown.

Through Week 7, Rico Dowdle played 38 percent of PIT snaps, took 34 percent of the carries, drew 12 percent of the targets and had 25 percent of the red zone chances.

Rico Dowdle, Week 1 against ATL: 39 of 67 snaps, 8 carries for 15 yards, 5 targets and 2 catches for 6 yards.

Rico Dowdle, Week 2 against NE: 18 of 70 snaps, 7 carries for 22 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 22 yards.

Rico Dowdle, Week 6 against TB: 21 of 79 snaps, 7 carries for 40 yards, 4 targets and 3 catches for 9 yards.

Rico Dowdle, Week 7 against NO: 28 of 64 snaps, 9 carries for 41 yards, 6 targets and 6 catches for 45 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, RJ Harvey played 17 games for DEN and scored 206.6 PPR points, 12.2 a game, finishing RB20.

He ran 146 times for 540 yards and 7 touchdowns, and caught 47 of 58 targets for 356 yards.

He was on the field for 41 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Rico Dowdle played 17 games for CAR and scored 216.3 PPR points, 12.7 a game, finishing RB18.

He ran 236 times for 1076 yards and 6 touchdowns, and caught 39 of 50 targets for 297 yards.

He was on the field for 56 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 8 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 8, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Rico Dowdle for RJ Harvey?
Yes, on the rest of the season. RJ Harvey projects 85 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (9.4 a game over 9 games), Rico Dowdle 32 (3.6 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Rico Dowdle over RJ Harvey. So make the move after his Week 8 game.
Should I drop RJ Harvey for Rico Dowdle?
No. Keep RJ Harvey: he projects 85 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (9.4 a game over 9 games), Rico Dowdle 32 (3.6 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Rico Dowdle over RJ Harvey.

Should I drop Rico Dowdle?Should I drop RJ Harvey?